


Well, Everything Has Changed

by the_afterlight



Series: Spierfeld Week 2018 [1]
Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Spierfeld Week 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 15:30:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14311749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_afterlight/pseuds/the_afterlight
Summary: "Hey, Abby, right?" he asked. "Thanks for that save in bio, I can'tbelieveI forgot a pen. I'm Bram," he added, holding out his hand for me to shake. I swear, my skin tingled when we touched. "Whatever Abby's saying, it's all true.""She, uh, just said that you have bio together. And that you're new in town." I suppressed a wince. This is why I didn't talk to cute guys. "Uh, Simon. I'm Simon.""Cute Simon," Bram said, and I jerked back. "Sorry, was that too forward?" He looked honestly apologetic. "I'm usually pretty good at guessing, but..."I glanced around, but we'd ended up a little bit away from everyone else, by virtue of being further away from the food. "No, I, uh..." I started, and swallowed. "I'm... not really out."---An AU in which Bram moves to town at the beginning of senior year, bringing some fast, unexpected, and wholeheartedly welcomed change to Simon's life.





	Well, Everything Has Changed

**Author's Note:**

> Playing catch-up for [Spierfeld Week 2018](https://spierfeldweek.tumblr.com/)! Here's day one, or Alternative First Meeting. 
> 
> Bram in this is absolutely inspired by Keiynan Lonsdale's RL aesthetic. Boy is giving me _life_.

The third day of senior year, there was a drama club meeting after school, with everyone gathering in the auditorium. It wasn't supposed to be anything big, just a, "Hey, it's a new year!" for us returning kids, and some general information for people who were thinking about joining, mostly a few cautious freshman looking scared at the edges crowd on the stage. Ms. Albright called us all to order after a few minutes of, "Hey, I haven't seen you yet! How was your summer!" or "Did you see Martin's epic fall in the hallway between third and fourth period?" The usual, y'know.

Mostly the usual. I glanced over when a flash caught my eye, wondering what it was reflecting off of, and found my attention caught by this new kid. I didn't think he was a freshman -- he looked too old for that -- but I didn't recognise him.

I'm pretty sure I'd have recognised him if he'd been here before. I'd never had a frame of reference for, "He took my breath away," before, but _wow_ did I understand it now. He had this ridiculously bright smile, almost as bright as the colours on his clothes, but somehow he pulled it off. The flash had been the stage lights reflecting off of this big dangling earring shaped like a key, which should have looked ridiculous, but... I mean, okay, it _did_ look ridiculous, but he made it work.

Ms. Albright finished up her introduction and let us loose on the school-subsidised snacks, and I snagged Abby's elbow as she passed by me. "Hey, who's that?" I asked, nodding at the guy I didn't recognise. She glanced over and grinned.

"Bram Greenfeld," she said. "He's new this year, just moved here from Savannah. We've got bio together." Abby's grin widened as she asked, "Did you want me to introduce you?"

I looked over at him again, and he looked up in return, catching my eye and giving this head nod and a little wave. "I, uh, don't think you need to worry about that," I pointed out, as he disengaged himself from Taylor and walked over to us.

"Hey, Abby, right?" he asked. "Thanks for that save in bio, I can't _believe_ I forgot a pen. I'm Bram," he added, holding out his hand for me to shake. I swear, my skin tingled when we touched. "Whatever Abby's saying, it's all true."

"She, uh, just said that you have bio together. And that you're new in town." I suppressed a wince. This is why I didn't talk to cute guys. "Uh, Simon. I'm Simon."

"Cute Simon," Bram said, and I jerked back. "Sorry, was that too forward?" He looked honestly apologetic. "I'm usually pretty good at guessing, but..."

I glanced around, but we'd ended up a little bit away from everyone else, by virtue of being further away from the food. "No, I, uh..." I started, and swallowed. "I'm... not really out."

"Grand total of me, his best friend, and my boyfriend," Abby clarified. "And now you. He thinks you're cute, too, by the way."

" _Abby!_ " I hissed, but Bram just laughed. "Not helping!"

Bram shook his head, and I was momentarily mesmerised by the shake of his curls. "I dunno, I think she's pretty helpful." He looked around. "So, do we need to stick around? Do I need to sign up officially somewhere, or...?"

"Nah, there aren't really any signups until auditions are posted," Abby explained, and she hooked an arm around each of ours. "So I'm thinking, what better way to get to know each other than Waffle House?"

Catching my eye over Abby's head, Bram grinned. "I love waffles."

* * *

"The Hallowe'en Oreos. They're just better when they're orange."

"Is that your favorite color?" I asked Bram. "I mean, I guess you're pretty fond of bright colours. Not that that's a bad thing! I just mean, your clothes are..."

Bram laughed, but nodded. "I am, yeah. I figured, why the hell not? What's wrong with wearing bright colours? I'm out anyway, might as well have fun with it. But yeah, no, my favorite color's actually blue. Like, sometimes it's that dark blue-gray of a stormy ocean, or that really crisp, clear blue of a summer sky, or there was this _one_ guy I dated, back at my old school, who had the most ridiculously blue eyes you've ever seen. But always blue."

I swallowed around a lump in my throat. "That's, uh... Blue's cool." Glancing around, I wondered where Abby was. She'd been gone to the washroom for a while.

"Brown's good, too, though," Bram added, and I blinked at him. He was leaning in a little further over the table, his eyes dancing. "Especially brown eyes. Feels like you can just fall into them forever." I guess something must have shown on my face, because he leaned back, wincing. "Sorry, too much? I guess, if you're still kinda new to this..."

"No, no, it's good," I assured him. "I mean, yeah, it's, uh, more than I'm used to? I guess?" Because I was used to literally nothing, but I didn't want to admit that, not to Bram. "But it's not bad." I ducked my head, but looked over at him through my eyelashes. "I could get used to it."

Bram grinned, and all I wanted was to reach over to where his hand was lying flat on the table and hold it. "I'm glad," was all he said.

By the time I realised Abby wasn't coming back, I didn't actually mind. In fact, I kind of wanted to thank her. Not that I'd ever _tell_ her that.

* * *

The next day after school, I stuck around in the auditorium to help Ms. Albright sort through the wreckage of the costume room. She wanted it in some kind of order before we did the first show of the year, and had recruited a few of us to help out.

"Okay, Simon, you and... Martin, why don't you go and grab some boxes? There should be some extras in the supply closet."

I just nodded, and she waved us off. The supply closet was actually pretty tidy, compared to basically everything else backstage, so it wasn't hard to find the boxes she was talking about. "How many do you think she wants?" I asked Martin, flipping through the stack of flattened cardboard. I frowned. "Do you see any packing tape?"

"I was thinking," Martin said, completely ignoring me, and I looked over. There was this weird look on his face. "So I saw you last night at Waffle House."

I blinked. "Yeah, and? I go to Waffle House all the time. We all do."

"Ah, but I couldn't help but notice that you looked _pretty_ chummy with one Bram Greenfeld." Martin gave this big, dramatic shrug. "I dunno, I was kinda thinking, maybe that wasn't the kind of thing you really wanted people hearing about."

I dropped the stack of boxes and turned to stare at Martin. "I-- Are you threatening to tell people that I'm--" I couldn't believe it. Like, I legitimately had no words. What the fuck even was this?

"I'm just thinking," Martin explained, "that you and I could help each other out. I mean, if you don't want people to know. You're friends with Abby, and, y'know, if you wanted to put a good word in for me..." He trailed off, and I could feel my face heat, my pulse rushing in my veins.

"You're _blackmailing_ me?" I said, actually getting angry.

Martin's eyes widened in shock. "No, I-- That's not what I mean! I just think that we're in a position to help ea--"

"What else would you call it? God, Martin, I knew you were the absolute worst, but I never thought that you were the _absolute worst_." I grabbed an armful of boxes and stormed past him, heading out of the supply closet as he called after me. I glanced around; it was just the real core of the drama club, me and Abby, Taylor, Rob, and Brianna, Martin floundering behind me, Cal huddled close with Ms. Albright at the piano. This would do. "Hey, everyone," I called out. "I've got something I want to tell you." I shot Martin a glance over my shoulder. "Because someone thinks that I should be ashamed of it, that it's something he can blackmail me over, and I don't believe that."

Something must have clicked for her, because Abby's eyes widened and she gasped, dropping the costumes she'd been holding. "Si, are you sure--?" I just nodded.

"I'm gay," I said, and pretended that my voice didn't quaver when I said it. Taylor was best friends with Ethan, so I knew she wouldn't care. Cal... I was pretty sure Cal was gay, too. I'd actually thought about coming out to him, even kissing him, at the cast party after the last show. Who knew what Rob and Brianna would think? Or if they'd stop making out long enough to pay attention. 

Abby was grinning at me, and when I looked over, Cal was, too. Ms. Albright's eyes were suspiciously bright, like she was about to cry, but she just smiled and came over to fold me up in a hug. "Thank you for telling us," she said, and as she pulled back, she looked over my shoulder at Martin. "And you. You! Were you threatening to out Simon?"

"I- I just-- Uh," Martin looked around, and I guess he realised that he wasn't going to be getting _any_ help in this room. "I'm just gonna..."

"Gonna walk with me down to Mr. Worth's office," Ms. Albright said, and steered him around with one hand clamped firmly on his shoulder. "Now. So we can have a talk about exactly how it is and is not appropriate to treat your classmates. Cal, you're in charge. Keep them focused until I get back."

Cal laughed and said, "Sure thing, Ms. Albright." He caught my eyes and then looked away, blushing, and for a moment I was sad that this hadn't happened before Bram moved to town, because thirty-six hours before, I'd probably have walked right over and asked him out. "Uh, I guess some of you already know that I'm bi?" he added, after the doors had closed.

Well, I was half right, anyway.

* * *

"So how was school today?" Mom asked. We were all pretty relaxed, smiling and enjoying Nora's _incredible_ spaghetti puttanesca -- no lie, I would have eaten for every single meal for the rest of my life -- and it felt good. Comfortable, and happy. Like maybe it was time.

"Funny you should ask that, actually," I said, shaking my head. "Uh, so I... kinda came out to the drama club."

There's this beat, just this moment of absolute stillness, and Mom's fork clatters to her plate out of her hand. Nora's eyes are wide with shock, and Dad's just staring at me. "Oh, Simon," Mom said, "you're..."

"I'm gay," I confirmed. "And I don't-- I mean, I'm still me."

"Of course you are!" Mom exclaimed, looking honestly affronted, like she was offended that I could ever think she'd think differently of me, but it passed quickly and she smiled. "Thank you for trusting us," she said, and Nora nodded enthusiastically, grinning at me.

Dad just shook his head, disbelief plain on his face. "You're-- Really?" I nodded, and he said, "... Huh," put his fork down, and walked around the table to fold me into a hug.

I have the best parents.

* * *

Leah caught me on the way into school the next day and pulled me into an empty classroom. "Did you see the blog last night?"

"Creeksecrets?" I asked, shaking my head. "No, why?"

"Someone outed you. I didn't find out until I got here." She looked incredibly worried, but I just groaned.

"Fucking Martin." At Leah's look of confusion, I explained, "He saw me and Bram at Waffle House the other night. When Abby snuck out and left us there to, uh, talk?"

Leah laughed, although there was still a sharp edge to it. "Ooooh. And he... what?"

"Threatened to blackmail me over it if I didn't help him and Abby get together." Leah's face went through a journey from shock to disgust to anger, but I waved her off. "It's okay, I came out to the drama club yesterday, and I... I mean, I didn't really think he'd go through with it, but I guess I'm not _surprised_."

The door to the classroom opened, and Abby and Nick came in, Bram right behind them. "He didn't," Abby said flatly, and I just shrugged.

"I mean, it could have been one of the others in drama club, but who would have?" I asked. "I guess... All that really matters at this point is how I react."

"You could deny it," Nick pointed out, although there was an odd twist to his face when he said it, and Bram's face shuttered at the words. "I mean, if you want to."

I just shook my head. "No, no one would believe me anyway," I pointed out. "And, I mean. It's true. I _am_ gay." I grinned and walked over to Bram. My hand brushed against his, and he looked up into my eyes. "And it'd be kinda hard to ask someone out on a date if I'm still in the closet."

Abby squealed with delight behind me, and Nick and Leah both laughed, this quick chuff of air that was as much catharsis as humour. "Oh?" Bram asked, twining his fingers through mine. "Got someone in mind?"


End file.
